ESTUDO DO USO DE PSICOESTIMULANTES POR ACADÊMICOS DE ENFERMAGEM.

Psychostimulants are drugs that have in common actions increased motor activity and reduced the need for sleep. In the academic environment, the introduction of these drugs aims to increase attention, concentration and disposition. The aim of this research is to identify the percentage of nursing students from a private college at Espírito Santo - Brazil who use psychostimulants in order to obtain higher incomes in studies. A quantitative and descriptive observational study was conducted. It was found that 50 students (30.3%) claim to have used some psychostimulant, occurring mainly, through influences of friends or on their own (68%). Methylphenidate (Ritalin®) proved to be the most prevalence substance (63%). It is possible to observe that the consumption of psychostimulants by nursing students aims to obtain an increase in academic performance, in addition, the means of obtaining these drugs puts us on alert, because most of them do not have any medical indication for use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]